1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to amusement devices and games, and more specifically relates to basketball and basketball training devices. A receptor having a net, net frame, and stand therefor are disclosed, which are especially suited for use with basketball return machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many sports that employ balls, such as basketball, baseball, and tennis, it is useful to have a machine that is able to project balls toward a player for practice purposes. Thus, appropriate machines have been developed to aid practice in these and other sports by throwing the ball to a player. However, basketball is unique from the other mentioned sports for several reasons. One is that the balls are larger and more expensive than baseballs or tennis balls. As a result, it would be expected that there will be comparitively fewer basketballs in use during a practice session. Correspondingly, the machine will have a reservoir holding a relatively smaller number of basketballs. For this reason, basketballs tend to be recycled through the throwing machine with greater frequency.
By further comparison to tennis and baseball, another uniqueness is that the basketball player is not as interested in practicing receiving the returned ball as he is in shooting the ball at the goal. Thus, the basketball return machine is able to take advantage of the goal-shooting nature of basketball practice by recovering balls from the goal and in this way compensating for the typically smaller number of balls in play.
One of the primary and unique problems faced by a basketball return machine is to have an adequate means for gathering the limited supply of balls from the goal and feeding the balls into the return mechanism. From the standpoint of gathering the largest number of basketballs that are shot at the goal, it would be desirable to employ a hopper located below the basketball goal. Since some shots miss the goal, this hopper is desired to be of large diameter so that it will catch many of the missed shots. However, a countervailing consideration is that the hopper and its associated return machine must be removed and stored when practice is over. Thus, the hopper should be manageable for removal and storage.
A further requirement of a hopper for basketballs is that the balls generally must be fed single file into the return machine. Basketballs in a hopper may log-jam before the single-file feed point. It would be desirable to have a hopper that is capable of feeding the gathered balls in single file with consistency. Of course, there are known mechanical movements that can feed a single sphere from a hopper, but if such a movement is sized to handle basketballs, it may be costly, bulky in size, mechanically complex, and difficult to handle for storage. In view of the need to move and store the basketball return machine, it would be desirable to achieve a consistent single file feed via a passive mechanism.
The following United States Patents disclose ball return machines and demonstrate the state of the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,550 to McNabb discloses a large collecting basket framework located below the hoop. A chute leads from the framework to a return mechanism, which employs a projecting arm to return the ball to the shooter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,348 to Griffith discloses a machine for returning soccer balls. A large hopper holds the store of balls, and a mechanical auger feeds the balls into a feed chute within the return machine. There, a pair of rotating wheels expel the ball toward the player. U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,591 to Paulson discloses another ball return device that employs a feed chute leading to counter-rotating ball projecting rollers, all of variable spacing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,340 to Jenkins et al. discloses a feed chute that receives basketballs shot through the hoop and feeds them to a horizontally rotatable ball return mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,189to Koss discloses a height adjustable, frame-like collection basket that catches basketballs and funnels them to a feed chute where, again, twin rollers expel the ball.
Another type of ball return device passively redirects basketballs back toward players in front of the basket. U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,506 to Caveney and U.S. Pat. No. 1,765,269 to Hatley disclose devices of this type, wherein ball-retrieving chutes or slides attach to the backboard and guide the ball back to the basketball court.
A further type of device is suspended from the hoop and kicks back any balls that pass through the hoop. U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,264 to Scalf discloses a ball ejecting machine that hangs from the hoop and returns each individual basketball that is shot through the hoop. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,471,150 to Kaerwer and 3,105,683 to Kimbrell disclose other rebounding devices that eject each individual ball that passes the hoop. Since each ball is ejected individually, immediately, there is no hopper or single-file feed mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,504 to Pascucci teaches still another ball ejector device that attaches to the hoop. The main function of these devices appears to be development of rebounding skills.
As can be understood from this described state of the art, there are three general types of devices in the prior art: return ball projectors, backboard mounted return guides, and hoop mounted ejectors. Of these, the first has superior utility and versitility in promoting goal shooting skills. The present invention primarily is intended for use with ball projecting machines and remedies the problems as noted.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the net, frame and stand of this invention may comprise the following.